After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 193 Guests
When she got up early the next morning, Ma mentioned to Hai Xiya during breakfast that she wanted to go to Zhenguo Gongfu to pay respects. Hai Xiya did not object and went to the Yamen.

After the meal, Mrs. Ma sent someone to the Zhenguo Palace to deliver a message to Mrs. Wednesday.

Hai Jiao and Hai Tang tidied up and changed into decent clothes. They asked Ma Changnian and his wife to drive the car and loaded up the gifts. Hai Jiao rode the horse, and the brother and sister went out to the third room of the Zhou family.

Yesterday evening, Ma Li and his son returned to the city from Biezhuang with his wife and daughter-in-law, and had a family reunion at the Hai family house.The crisis in the village has been resolved. They no longer need to stay there to serve the Zhou Ma family. Naturally, they have to go to the city as soon as possible to work for the new master.

When they arrived at the third room of the Zhou family, Ma Changnian went to the concierge to send a message. He found out that Zhou Shigong had been at home on leave for the past two days and there were no guests. So he had some free time, so he informed Haijiao.After a while, Zhou Ma's confidant maid came out of the front yard and took the Haijiao and Haitang brothers and sisters into the main yard.

The brother and sister first visited their aunt Zhou Ma and presented them with gifts prepared by Ma.

Mr. Zhou no longer pretended to be sick today. He was wearing homely clothes and had just finished doing housework. When he was feeling headache and tired, he saw two children from his younger sister's family coming to visit him and gave him a gift carefully prepared by his younger sister. After taking the supplements, I felt much happier.

She smiled and said to Haijiao Haitang: "It's hard work for you to make this trip. In fact, your grandmother is also busy, so she can just send her servants to make a trip. Why ask you to run errands? You have just arrived in Chang'an and you are not familiar with the roads yet? Today My son is cold. If the wind blows and he gets sick, he won't be able to live peacefully even during the New Year."

Haitang said sweetly: "Brother and I are not working hard. It's good to go out for a walk and get some fresh air. We can also get familiar with the scenery of Chang'an. Although the servants can help with running errands, they can't express concern for grandma on behalf of grandma, so Grandma specially asked my brother to come with me."

Zhou Ma felt even more at ease.

She then asked about Ma's trip to the province yesterday.Hai Jiao and Hai Tang told the story, specifically highlighting the stinginess and arrogance of Uncle Ma and Mrs. Ma's wife as explained by Ma.

Zhou Ma also felt that her sister-in-law was too embarrassed.Although she has always been considerate of her brother and sister-in-law's difficulties, her sister-in-law doesn't even care about the dignity of the Ma family and only cares about a few small coins. How can she still have the charm of a Chang'an family?As a married daughter of the Ma family, she couldn't help but feel that her face was disgraceful, and she was afraid that one day the gossip would reach the ears of her step-mother-in-law and step-son and step-daughter-in-law, and they would have another reason to make fun of her.

In the past two days, she had been ordered by her husband Zhou Shigong to take over Zhongfu again. The accountant refused to pay, so she asked Zhou Shigong to remove the accountant and replace it with someone Zhou Shigong trusted. Although she still kept the money very tightly, she could at least manage it. Let her spend her daily necessities smoothly.Only then did she, the mistress, feel like she was in charge of the family.

However, Mrs. Ma's uncompromising side, from her stepson and step-daughter-in-law to the internal and external housekeepers at home, continued to cause trouble for her.It took a lot of effort just to deal with their provocations and keep everything in the house running smoothly.She really wanted to complain to her husband, but she didn't dare to complain too much.Because she knows that once she annoys her husband, she will not be able to please him either.

Now, while her husband was wary of her step-mother-in-law and angry that her eldest son was also causing trouble, she quickly seized the power of the family and replaced the disobedient manager with her husband's, but she did not dare to do more. .Although the newlyweds are all her husband's men, there is no guarantee that they will be loyal to him. But until her husband discovers the evidence of their betrayal, she can only use them instead of her own confidants, lest her husband misunderstand that she is also I want to be like my stepmother-in-law, Mrs. Ma, who seizes the power in the family and treats him like a fool.

Zhou Ma complained casually to the juniors about these troubles, but did not want to say too much.After chatting for a while about the current situation of Uncle Ma and his wife, Mrs. Zhou Ma asked the girl to invite the "third lady" over.

Zhou Ma's granddaughter Zhou Yijun is the third of three sisters in the Zhou family. She arrived in Chang'an yesterday and has just settled down in her old house.Although Zhou Wenjun of Zhenguogong Mansion tried his best to invite his cousin to live with him, Zhou Yijun had just come back and must stay with her grandmother for a while, so she slept in the small courtyard on the side of the main courtyard last night.

The small courtyard was very close, and Zhou Yijun quickly arrived at the main courtyard.She is the same age as Haitang. She is pretty, speaks and acts politely, and always has a slightly shy smile on her face. Only her tanned skin reveals that she was indeed a girl who grew up in the frontier.

She smiled and greeted Hai Jiao and Hai Tang, calling them "cousin" and "cousin".Haitang also introduced herself gracefully.Two little girls of the same age sat down and chatted for a few words, and soon became close to each other.

Hai Jiao was still thinking about Zhou Shigong, so he got up and confessed to Zhou Ma, saying that he was going to pay his respects to his great-uncle.

Zhou Ma hesitated for a moment and said, "Wait a moment and let someone take a look at your forehead first. I'll be free." Then he sent Cailuo to deliver the message.After a while, Cailuo turned around and brought back the reply that Zhou Shigong had some free time to see Hai Jiao, and Hai Jiao left the main courtyard.

Haitang looked on coldly, feeling that Zhou Ma, the head matron, was really uninteresting in what she did.Even if Mrs. Ma completely loses her power and Mrs. Zhou Ma can completely control the power of the central government, she still has to look at people's faces in this family.

When the Hai family brother and sister entered the house, they asked the concierge. Zhou Shigong was free at home today, and there were no guests coming to the door. The younger generation from the in-laws' family came to say hello and they must go to see him as the head of the family. However, Zhou Ma didn't get permission from her husband and didn't even dare to make the decision. He was sent to the study door to ask for an audience.How much respect can she get in front of her husband Zhou Shigong?

Forget it, Zhou Shigong's brother Hai Jiao was there, so Haitang didn't bother to worry about it.She turned her attention to Zhou Yijun, chatting with him about daily life, and asking about the situation at Ningxia Zhongwei Station.

During this period, two more waves of ladies in charge came to ask Zhou Ma for housework instructions, but neither of them went smoothly.Either there is something missing and needs to be purchased, or it can be solved by asking the removed stewards.Zhou Ma thought that he had finally removed his step-mother-in-law's confidants, how could he get them back?Just change the old rules directly.

The Zhou family has changed the head of the house, so it is appropriate for many rules to change, and it can also reduce the family's expenses.Even if Zhou Shigong complained, Zhou Ma would be able to deal with it with his prior instructions to save money.

The lady in charge who came to look for trouble came back disappointed. After a while, it was Zhou Jinpu and his wife who came to look for trouble.I don't know if it was to increase the momentum, but they also brought many people and stormed into the main courtyard menacingly.

Zhou Jinpu and his wife didn't even care that Haitang, a foreign guest, was in the upper room, so they yelled at Zhou Ma, accusing her of removing the second manager of the purchase.That was Zhou Jinpu's nanny, who had always been close to their eldest son.

Haitang pulled Zhou Yijun aside and looked coldly at the hysterics of Zhou Jinpu and his wife.Zhou Ma probably felt that she had the support of her husband. Now that she was accused by her stepson in person, she did not panic, and even hinted Cailuo to sneak away to bring in reinforcements.

Haitang glanced at the young men behind Zhou Jinpu and his wife, and asked Zhou Yijun in a low voice, and learned that the two young girls and one boy were their children.There is only one young man who looks to be the oldest. He is dark, tall and thin, moves swiftly and wears simple and elegant clothes. He is obviously a practicing artist. His style of painting is incompatible with the Zhou Jinpu family, but he is a guest who lives in the third room of the Zhou family. He lives there on weekdays. In the guest house, Zhou Jinpu was called here for some reason.

Is this the orphan from Zhou Shicheng's old ministry who secretly spied on the Hai family the day before yesterday?

Haitang stared at the big frame and rough skin of the young man's hands for a few times without saying a word.

(End of this chapter)